Unfinished #54 - A Publication of the Mission Society

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A publication o The Mission Society Winter 2012 | 54

Taking the gospel where he livesHelping the Majority World assume the lead in global missions



UNFINISHEDWinter 2012, Issue 54

Publisher/CEO

Dick McClain

Editor Ruth A. Burgner

Associate Editor Reed Haigler Hoppe

Design Laura Means

Founding President/President Emeritus H.T. Maclin

Unnished is a publication o The Mission Society.

Subscriptions are ree upon request.

Send subscription requests, change o

addresses, and all correspondence to P.O.

Box 922637, Norcross, Georgia 30010 or

call 800.478.8963 (FAX 770.446.3044). The

Mission Society is unded entirely by gits

rom individuals and local congregations.All gits are tax-exempt and are grateully

acknowledged. Unnished is a member-

publication o the Evangelical Press

Association. Please visit The Mission Society

online at: themissionsociety.org.

The Mission Society sta: Ed and Linda

Baker, Ron Beatty, Debra Bembenek, Ron

Braund, Dennis Brown, Ruth Burgner, Tracy

Byrd, Richard Coleman, Doug Cozart, Frank

Decker, Vicki Decker, Theresa Gardner, Jo Ann

Helveston, Lauren Helveston, Kate Hilder-

brandt, Reed Hoppe, Brenda Lee, Beverly

Mancuso, Dick McClain, Lauren Mead, Laura

Means, Ari Morsella, Michael Mozley, Leslie

O’Connor, Lori Potts, Ivar Quindsland, Jim

Ramsay, Shawn Ramsay, Andrew Randall, StanSel, Lewis von Herrmann, Darrell Whiteman,

Allison Wiggins, Steve Wilson, Roger Wright

The Mission Society board o directors:

Robert Aboagye-Mensah, Accra, Ghana;

Jorge Acevedo, Cape Coral, FL; Paul Baddour,

Heathrow, FL; Ed Bell, Georgetown, SC; Jim

Davis, Dalton, GA; Jan Gilbert, Aiken, SC;

William M. Johnson (board chairman), Canton,

GA; Joe Kilpatrick, Tucker, GA; João Carlos

Lopes, Curitiba, Brazil; H.T. Maclin, Decatur,

GA; Dick McClain, Stone Mountain, GA; Don

McGehee, Ruston, LA; Neal Reynolds, Atlanta,

GA; David Roller, Baltimore, MD; Nicole Sims,

Hamburg, Germany; Helen Rhea Stumbo, Fort

Valley, GA; Richard Weber, Sandy Springs, GA;

Max Wilkins, Gainesville, FL

Cover photo:

Taken outside o a

leprosy hospital in

Bihar, the second

largest state in India

and home to one o the

highest concentrations

o unreached people in

the world. Photo by

Jim Ramsay.

Join us in The Mission

When you partner with The Mission Society, not only do you join us in The

Mission to oer Christ to the world, but you join us in embracing our core values.

Our vision The kingdom o God advancing among all peoples bringing about redemption and

reconciliation through Jesus Christ

Our mission The Mission Society exists to mobilize and deploy the body o Christ globally to join

Jesus in His mission, especially among the least reached peoples.

Our core values

INCARNATION

The Mission Society seeks to minister to others by ollowing the example o Jesus,

who ully entered the human experience. In our cross-cultural ministry, we are

committed to learning the local language, living among the people, ministering inculturally appropriate ways, demonstrating love or God and neighbor, and

disciple-making among the nations.

INTEGRITY

The Mission Society desires to reect the holiness o God in all we do. Personally

and corporately we endeavor to make the character o Christ maniest in our lives

and our ministry.

PASSION

We are not complacent about the One who matters supremely or the work God has

given us to do; nor is our ministry prompted simply by duty, or even obedience.

Our lie together and our ministry are marked and motivated by passion or Godand God’s mission. We are passionate about Jesus, our mission, and all those

involved in the journey with us.

PEOPLE

The Mission Society believes that people are o primary value. Because people

matter to God, people matter to us. Our cross-cultural workers, sta, donors,

volunteers, prayer partners, and those we seek to reach are o greatest worth to us.

Because “relationships” and not “ormulas” are our method, The Mission Society

exudes an entrepreneurial culture where every member is encouraged to discern

and pursue God’s unique direction or his or her ministry.

PARTNERSHIPSince it is the kingdom o God that we are called to express and extend throughout

the world, our ministry is about more than ourselves and our organization. We

believe that working together enhances our witness and strengthens our ability to

make disciples o all nations. The Mission Society thereore pursues partnership in

ministry endeavors – with churches, nationals, Christian organizations, and

individuals.

PRAYER

It is only through the power and presence o the Spirit o Christ that we can live up

to the high and holy intentions embodied in these values. We acknowledge our

absolute dependence on God and seek both His guidance and His strength each

day. Thereore, The Mission Society is a praying community.



World 32We all think we're the center o the universe Why ethnocentrism is a

major hurdle in nishing the task.

Church Ministry 34Short-term missions with a long view By asking one simple question,

your team’s short visit can help mobilize or ministry the global body

o Christ.

Calling 36Sweet beans? What our tastes in ood have to do with nishing the task

Follow us:

@tms_world

acebook.com/themissionsociety

Read our blog at themissionsocietyblog.com

Table o Contents

Perspective 2Practicing what we preach Dick McClain describes an initiative that

was launched once he stopped being “the problem.”

Finishable! 4 A leader in Nigeria’s mission movement oers an inside look at

the surprising state o global missions.

Pioneers 10 Leaders in areas where Christianity is growing astest report the

joys and challenges aced as missions accelerates in their nations.

A year in review 26 Refecting on the advance o God’s kingdom through

The Mission Society

News 28

Reaching least reached peoples using business 28

Latin and South Americans prepare to take gospel beyond their

borders 29

Mission training institute named to honor The Mission Society's

ounding 'rst couple' 30

Are you prepared to mobilize without warning? 31

“I you want to go ast, go alone. I you want to go ar, go together.”

–Arican proverb

Communicating the true gospel 22Feeling uneasy in expressing your aith? Learn whatmissionaries learn.

Theirs is the kingdom 16Read what Christians in the Majority World are teaching us.



“Don’t wait until you nish the job at

home until you go to the ends o the

earth, or else you’ll never go!”

When we began mobilizing U.S.

churches or missions in 2000, utiliz-

ing what eventually would become the

“Global Outreach Seminar,” that was the

challenge we presented to every U.S.

congregation we visited. Te need or

such an exhortation was pretty obvi-

ous. I say that because o the number o

good church olks who, when presented

with the reality o unreached peoplegroups around the world, oen re-

sponded by saying, “But there’s so much

still to be done right here at home.” O

course, they were right. Tere were and

are great needs in our own communi-

ties. But we reminded people that i

the rst believers had waited until they

had “nished the job at home” beore

taking the good news to the ends o the

earth, the church today would still be a

small Jewish sect still preoccupied with

Jerusalem, swimming upstream against

the prevailing religious tide in Israel.

Within months o launching the

Global Outreach Seminar in U.S.

churches, leaders rom Arica, Asia,

and Latin America urged us to bring

it to their countries. I’m embarrassed

to say that my standard reply during

those early years was to thank them or

the invitation, but to tell them that we

didn’t have the personnel, the nan-cial resources, or the time to come to

them. Besides, I would say, we had only

just begun to do the work o missions

mobilization here in the United States.

We couldn’t take the teaching to other

countries yet because—you guessed it—

there was still so much to be done right

here at home!

Vision too small

Tankully, the chair o the executive

council who shepherded our early mo-

bilization eorts (Bill Johnson, who now

chairs Te Mission Society’s board) o-

ered his own challenge to me when he

said, “When are you going to practice

what you preach?” He probably said “we”

and not “you,” because Bill is a gentle-

man. But the Spirit hammered me with

Bill’s words. Te truth is that the prob-

lem wasn’t with “us.” It was with me!

So in 2002, I spent several monthswriting out what we then called the

“Global Vision Seminar,” creating ma-

terials or a pilot international mission

mobilization seminar that we launched

in Ghana in 2003. Even though the

material was not really ready or prime

time, God used it, and the impact o

those initial mobilization conerences in

Ghana is still being elt.

Perspective By Dick McClain

2 Winter 2012 themissionsociety.org

Practicing what we preach

“We’re living in one o the most exciting seasons this side o Pentecost,” writes Dick McClain,who describes an initiative that was launched once he stopped being “the problem.”

“Today missions is about ‘the whole

church taking the whole gospel to the

whole world,’” writes Dick McClain.

“In such a day, we have both the

high calling and the joyul privilege

o joining hands with the younger

mission movements o the world.”

Shown here: Dick McClain in Ghana or

one o the rst Global Vision Seminars



3themissionsociety.org Winter 2012

Sadly, or the next year I pressed

ahead with building the Church Min-istry department (we called it “World

Parish Ministries” in those days) and ex-

panding the Global Outreach program

in U.S. churches. I didn’t make a deci-

sion not to do any more international

work; I just didn’t make it a priority, so

it didn’t happen.

Tankully, the Holy Spirit (with no

small amount o help rom Bill and oth-

ers) didn’t let me orget the urgency o

international mobilization. o make a

long story short, we rewrote the seminar

materials in late 2004 in preparation

or what we thought might be a week o

training with a small group o key Latin

American leaders the next summer.

About the same time, God led a

riend to designate a very generous gi

or “international missions mobiliza-

tion.” o be honest, the size o the gi

dwared the scope o our vision, so we

began to pray and dream about what

God might really want us to do. Te

result was that in August 2005, we

conducted a mobilization event in

Costa Rica that was attended by 75 key

leaders—pastors, bishops, and mission

agency heads —rom 10 Central and

South American countries. Te ollow-

ing summer, we held an East Arica

Mission Mobilization Conerence in

Nairobi, Kenya, attended by about 75leaders rom Kenya and a number o

surrounding nations. Tree weeks later,

we conducted our rst Mobilization

Conerence at a missionary training

school in the mountains outside o Rio

de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fruit, ruit, and more ruit

In the years since then, many more such

conerences have been conducted on

three continents. Tousands o indig-enous pastors and leaders have gone

through this training. Tough it’s been

impossible to tabulate the outcomes, we

know o dozens o churches that have

been planted, new mission initiatives

that have been launched among un-

reached people groups, cross-cultural

workers who have been sent, increased

unds or missions that have been raised,

and even new mission agencies that

have been pioneered.

God has brought abundant ruit rom

these eorts. In the meantime, the work

“here at home” hasn’t skipped a beat.

More recently, Te Mission Society

has begun to oer to missionaries rom

several countries the same pre-eld

training (ocusing on such things as

cross-cultural ministry, discipleship,

and spiritual warare) that our own

workers receive. Next year we hope

to extend this new initiative to India,where there is a vibrant missionary

movement but also the need or solid

training in the principles and practice o

cross-cultural witness.

Global missions in overdrive

Why is all this important? Because

we’re living in one o the most excit-

ing seasons this side o Pentecost—a

time when ollowers o Jesus around

the world are increasingly joining inthe task o global missions. Churches

that used to simply receive missionar-

ies are now sending their own. ens o

thousands o cross-cultural workers

have been deployed rom Korea, India,

Nigeria, Argentina, and scores o other

countries. International missions is no

longer the sole domain o the church in

the West. Increasingly, it is within the

Majority World that we nd the most

vibrant mission movements. Tat’s not

surprising, o course, since that’s also

where the church is the most vibrant

and growing.

oday missions is about “the whole

church taking the whole gospel to the

whole world.” In such a day, we have

both the high calling and the joyul

privilege o joining hands with the

younger mission movements o the

world. oday we get to “carry the bags”

o people like imothy Olonade, a

Nigerian global missions statesman with

whom we have been privileged to col-

laborate. You’ll be blessed as you read

imothy’s article on page 4. Read rom

Peter Pereira, ministry leader in India;

Bishop João Carlos Lopes, bishop o the

Methodist Church in Brazil; and David

Mutai, director o missions o Kenya’s

Arica Gospel Church about mission

movements in their nations. And learnmore about how Te Mission Society

is equipping indigenous leaders and

our own missionaries or cross-cultural

ministry. So read on, and celebrate that

it’s in this thrilling season that Jesus

invites us to join Him in His mission.U

The Rev. Dick McClain is president and

CEO o The Mission Society.

“Churches that used to simply receive

missionaries are now sending their

own. Tens o thousands o cross-

cultural workers have been deployed

rom Korea, India, Nigeria, Argentina,

and scores o other countries.”




A leader in Nigeria’s mission movement oers an insidelook to the surprising current state o global missionsFinishable!

“In reality the worldwide church is crisscrossing the

globe rom everywhere to everywhere to ocus on

the nishable task o the Great Commission.”




We are living in an era in which the global body o Christ

is taking deliberate responsibility globally to completely

evangelize the whole world. In varying degrees, the global

church is preparing or Jesus' return. Discipleship has

been stepped up around the world. Christ’s ollowers areincreasingly being mentored in ministry skills and biblical

teaching that helps to correctly prioritize involvement in the

Great Commission. And this is not just a case o the church

in the West helping the rest o the world. And it is not just a

case o Western Christian leaders adding “international” or

“global” to their agencies’ names or mission statements. In

reality, the worldwide church is crisscrossing the globe rom

everywhere to everywhere to ocus on the fnishable task o

the Great Commission.

Cross-cultural Christian witnesses are coming rom

everywhere and going to everywhere.

Arican missionaries are now serving in as araway places

as China and Japan, and as ar south as Brazil and Bolivia.

Brazilian missionaries are now serving in unisia, Morocco,and East Arica. Korean missionaries are ound in remote

villages in Northern Nigeria. South Aricans are in the horn

o Arica. Nigerians and Filipinos are ound in Japan and

throughout the Middle East. Te presence o Arican avor

in global evangelism can also be seen in Europe, where

the ve largest churches are led by Aricans. Recently, SIM

[Serving In Mission, a mission agency] announced the

appointment o a new international director, a missionary

doctor rom Nigeria, a country where the three ounding




Crisscrossing the globe

Among The Mission Society’s team o missionaries are several who have come romcountries outside o the United States to serve in other nations. Here are a ew.

From Germany to Namibia – Johannes and Lena Ebner

Johannes and Lena will join The Mission Society team in Namibia to work with Children o Zion Village (COZV). COZV is

an orphanage in Katima Mulilo, Namibia. This is a home or children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Johannes and Lena are both

originally rom Germany.

From Peru to Mexico – Florencio and Maria Guzman

The Guzmans minister in Monterrey, Mexico and other areas o Latin America. They are involved in evangelism, leadership

development, discipleship, and writing Bible training curriculum. In addition, they have a vital ministry to the “garbage

people” in Monterrey. Florencio is originally rom Peru.

From the Democratic Republic o Congo to Togo – Esaho and Beatrice Kipuke

Kipuke Ministries was established in Togo by Esaho and Beatrice. Their ministry ocuses on evangelism, church planting,

mission mobilization, and community development. The Kipukes train pastors, evangelists and their spouses, as well asprovide leadership training to church leaders. They have programs that train young women in home economics, that care

or the elderly, and that care or orphans in their community. The Kipukes are originally rom the Democratic Republic o

Congo.

From Brazil to France – Gustavo and Dalila Faleiro

Gustavo and Dalila are rom Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he served as a pastor and musician. Through a collaborative rela-

tionship between The Mission Society and IMForM, a Brazilian missionary sending agency, the Faleiros serve with the “La

Fonderie” project in the heart o Paris, France. La Fonderie’s purpose is to reach French people or Christ by encouraging,

inspiring, and discipling Christians working in the arts and creative proessions.




athers o that agency laid down their lives a little more than

a century ago.

O the 32 speakers on the stage at the Ethne-to-Ethne

Conerence in Bali, Indonesia in 2006, only six were rom the

West. When Colombia played host to the same event in 2009,

the program coordinator was rom Malta; speakers were

rom India, the Philippines, Arica, and the rest o the world.

During the okyo 2010 Global Consultation on Missions in

Japan, a large percentage o the conerence ofcials, speakers,

and seminarians were rom the rest o the world. At the

2010 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape

own, not only did the speakers reect the global body o

Christ, the thematic expression o the conab bore witness to

that. In recent years, the global body o Christ’s missiology

is shaping up as locations or body

o Christ gatherings and the active

participants are reecting the true

status o the global church.

What actors are responsible

or this global presence and

participation? Is this part o the

ongoing ulllment o Jesus’ declaration that the “gospel

o the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the entire world

as a witness to all nations; and then the end shall come”?

Maybe. Whereas the rst attempt by the Apostles met with

resistance including loss o lives, we were told that all o Asiawas reached with the gospel. Teir unrelenting eort caused

enough systemic upheaval that they were accused o turning

the world upside-down.

The global church is growing in places where obstacles

are the greatest.

Aer a period o slow down, we have recorded measurable

breakthroughs in the modern mission era rom the days

o William Carey. Yet out o nearly 17,000 people groups

listed by the Joshua Project (which maintains a database o

unreached peoples categorized by country and language),

more than 6,900 are still considered least reached people

groups. Tese least reached peoples are ound in every corner

o the globe, just as the church is present in every continent.

Te irony is that the church is experiencing major decline

where it used to be strong, and it is growing phenomenally

where it used to be alien. o complicate the matter, where

the church is growing, its economic power is low. According

to odd Johnson (co-editor o the recent 400-page Atlas o

Global Christianity ), more than 60 percent o global church

income stays where the church grows the least, and the

church is growing more where the income is ar less.

The global church is rallying to reach the

least reached.

o heighten the stake, the church is not

catching up with the world population and

world wealth distribution. I the church and

the world continue to grow at their current

rates, the world population will outstrip the

church on every continent, and the gains o the past will be

erased. So how has the Lord prompted us to act?

o reach the world and complete the task o announcing

the gospel among every people group, three things stand out

in recent years:1. God has given the church a resh spirit o collaboration to

address issue-based and regional conicts and concerns.

2. Tere has been an upsurge in the worldwide prayer or the

unreached.

3. Eorts have increased to mobilize and train the church

to raise up the required workorce to nish the task.

(In some cases, providing training like this now is like

building a ship when you are already on the high sea.)

“The gospel that was in principle universal has now become in reality universal.”

–Kwame Bediako, Ghanaian theologian and late rector o the Akrof-Christaller

Institute or Theology, Mission, and Culture in Akropong, Ghana

“I the church and the world continue

to grow at their current rates, the world

population will outstrip the church on

every continent.”




Unprecedented alliances are orming to fnish the un-

fnished task.

o accomplish all these, God is birthing alliances in dierent

regions o the world. Tese alliances are not just Western

packages sold to the rest o the world. Te Movement o

Arican National Initiative (MANI) was primarily born to

evoke continent-wide commitment to world evangelization.

COMIBAM has been used o God to stir the Latino world

into a conscious engagement in world mission. And

rom India Missions Association to Philippines Missions

Association, the Asian church is taking its leading role in

reaching the world.

Aside rom the regional cooperation, God has initiated

and is sustaining a number o mission accelerating global

alliances and networks. While Lausanne Congress on World

Evangelization continues to provide a wider platorm o

engagement, the Ethne-to-Ethne Initiative symbolically

and strategically brings together Christian leaders who

are passionate about doing whatever it takes to reach the

remaining 27 percent o the world population.

For the global church, no challenge is greater thantraining “rontier workers.”

O all the challenges conronting the global church in

nishing the task, none is as acute as the recruitment,

preparation, and strategic deployment o the rontier workers.

Because the harvest orce is now within or nearby the harvest

eld, we must develop appropriate methods o getting the

right people into the eld in the most cost eective way. o

do this we need to mobilize the entire body. We need the

company o prophets to sound the alarm or raise a clarion

call to the body o Christ to rise up and take action. We know

that He who said the “harvest is plenty and workers are ew”

will be eager to call to Himsel whomever He wills and “send

them orth” to the least reached nations o the earth.

We are beginning to see the prophetic company emerging

through such programs like Te Mission Society’s Global

Outreach Seminar, LSI Kairos, and M2414Initiative. O these

three, Te Mission Society’s Global Outreach Seminar has

been a signicant tool all across Arica. In Nigeria, it has

been renamed “Global Engagement raining,” or “GE.”

From East to West Arica, this tool is helping to raise new

tribes o mobilizers. And there are more.

In Arica alone there are hundreds o training initiatives

geared towards preparing the church to live out her

distinctive, get a better grasp o her call to reach the nations,

and ulll her responsibility to the society in all areas o

human endeavors. Asia is brimming with hundreds o

strategies and training platorms and initiatives. From India

to China, rom Nepal to Bangladesh, programs aimed at

helping the church to better preach the gospel abound, and

the Latin America region is no dierent. While the Nigerian

missions movement’s “Vision 50:15” seeks to place thousandso Nigerians in mission service rom Nigeria all the way to

Jerusalem, the Filipino’s PM3 aims at the total mobilization

o the entire nation.

God has blessed the church with some organizationally

led micro-initiatives—programs, projects, and trainings that

are having an incredible global impact on the church’s eort

to nish the task. Tese include, but are not limited to, Te

Missions Society’s Global Outreach Seminar, Living Spring

International’s Kairos (rom the Philippines), and El-Rehoboth

“Out o nearly 17,000 people groups listed by

the Joshua Project, more than 6,900 are still

considered least reached. …Eorts have increased

to mobilize and train the church to raise up the

required workorce to nish the task,” writes the

Rev. Tim Olonade, author and mission mobilizer,

seen here (second rom the right) at a leadership

training event in Ongole, South India.



In 2006, Mission Society President Dick McClain,

then the vice president o church resources met

The Rev. Timothy Olonade at the Ethne-to-Ethne

Conerence in Bali, Indonesia. At that time, Olonade

served as the executive secretary/CEO o the Nigeria

Evangelical Missions Association (NEMA).

The goal o NEMA’s “Vision 50:15” is to mobilize

50,000 Christians to train, send, and support 15,000

Nigerian missionaries by 2020. These missionaries

prepare to serve in areas such as North Arica and

the Arab Peninsula.

When McClain introduced Olonade to the Global

Outreach Seminar materials developed by The Mis-

sion Society, Olonade expressed an interest in using

this curriculum to help train Nigerian pastors in

mission mobilization.

So in June 2009, NEMA hosted a mission mobi-

lization conerence led by The Mission Society. The

Revs. Dick McClain and Kirk Sims (who served as a

Mission Society missionary to Ghana at the time)

and Dr. Darrell Whiteman (see pages 22-24) taught

the Global Outreach Seminar to nearly 100 pastors

and bishops rom several denominations.

Since then, Olonade has taken the Global Out-

reach materials and created a “Global Engagement

Training” seminar which he has taught to thousandso Nigerian pastors and ministry leaders over the

past three years.

“Our eort in all this has been to come alongside

what God is doing in Nigeria,” notes President Mc-

Clain. “We have said repeatedly that The Mission

Society’s job in the uture would be to help our

Global South brothers and sisters in their eorts,

knowing they would be able to go where we could

not and do what we cannot.”


Nigerians are mobilizing to

proclaim Christ throughout

North Arica and the Arab

Peninsula, which are largely

Muslim-populated areas.

Announcing Christrom Nigeria to Jerusale

Foundation’s M2414 Initiatives. More discipleship support

initiatives like Bible or Lie and ministries rom Leadership

Ministries Worldwide are also gaining global use.

Discipleship must be a priority or the global church.

As we prepare the church or rontier mission, we must

ensure our eort is:

• Global in its scope – connecting God’s people rom all

nations to work together worldwide.

• Missional in nature – reecting the body o Christ’s task

to proclaim the Word o God to the nations.

• Mobilization centric – advancing the global cause o

Christ in the church through the company o prophets

calling the church to its primary job.

• Mentoring and discipleship in its outlook – preparing the

church to live in biblical hope o the Lord’s return. U

Timothy Olonade served as the execu-

tive secretary/CEO or the Nigeria Evan-

gelical Missions Association (NEMA)

rom 2000 to 2011. A missions mobilizer

and writer, Olonade has authored and co-authored more than a dozen books

on discipleship, missions, evangelism,

human resources, and missions strategy.

In late September, Olonade participated in The Mission Society’s

“think tank” on global mission mobilization and training—a

meeting o mission strategists who came together to discuss how

to expand The Mission Society’s mobilization eorts and mission-

ary training programs internationally as a means o serving the

growing Majority World mission eorts.

Nigerians mobilize; The Mission Society comes alongside




PioneersBetween 1970 and 1985, “some 4,300 people were leaving

the church on a daily basis in Europe and North America.”At about the same time, in Arica “there were over 16,500

conversions a day, yielding an annual rate o over six

million,” reports Yale Divinity School’s Lamin Sanneh. Te

expansion o Christianity among the Majority World (the

developing nations o Arica, Asia, and Latin America) has

been spurred on by emerging mission movements and by

churches that are recalibrating to ocus on missions.

Here, meet some indigenous missions and church leaders

in Asia, South America, and Arica. Tey report rom the

ground about the move o God in their nations and the

obstacles aced as their ellow countrymen increasingly take

the gospel to the least reached inside and outside o their

borders.

Leaders in areas where Christianity is growing

astest report the joys and challenges aced asmissions accelerates in their nations

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Wie: Esther Pereira

Church: Wheatland Salem Church, Naperville

Children: Rebekah, Jonathan, and Philip

Lie examples: Billy Graham, John Wesley

Favorite verse or book o the Bible: Psalm 23

“Ordinary nationals who live and serve in obscurity…are laying the groundwork or great mission work that Godis doing,” reports Peter Pereira who, with his wie, Esther, head Hope or Today ministries in Hyderabad, India. ThePereiras are involved in church-planting, leadership training, and compassion ministries. In addition, they work with women and children through the Alpha Schools and Homes (orphanages), a vocational training center,medical camps, and a nutritional eeding program. The Pereiras serve jointly with The Mission Society and theInternational Leadership Institute (ILI). Here, Peter describes how the Spirit o God is moving among the world’ssecond most populous nation.

Peter Pereira – India




What do you observe the Lord doing in your nation

right now, particularly with regards to missions?

God is drawing many to Him, and this is being done through

the ordinary nationals who live and serve in obscurity. Tey

are laying the groundwork or great mission work that God

is doing. Te gospel is being shared through stories. Many o these nationals are illiterate, and yet they share with those

within their sphere o inuence their testimonies o lie with

Jesus—o restoration, healing, miracles, uture hope, peace,

and the joy they experience, even in the ace o inadequacy

and adversity.

What are the challenges being aced by Christians in

India as cross-cultural missions has become more and

more a elt priority among your churches?

Some o the challenges Christians in India ace are (1) not

having training and tools that could help them be more

eective; (2) guarding the aith so it does not become diluted

or distorted, and (3) learning to present the gospel message

with greater condence and in more creative ways. When

we were training trainers to teach children, our team had

annelgraph material, and the participants were so excited

and amazed. Tey had never seen anything like this beore.

India is a ascinating country o approximately 1.2 billion

people. Hinduism accounts or 80.5% o the population

o India, Islam 13.4%, Christianity 2.3%, Sikhism 1.9%,

Buddhism 0.8%, and Jainism 0.4%. It is challenging to be

a Christian in India. Preaching the gospel in some areas or

converting to Christianity rom Hinduism can cost people

their amilies, jobs, and possibly even their lives. (Tis is true,

though, only in certain regions. For the most part, Indian

people are very open-minded and generous.)

What has been helpul as Indian Christians and church-

es have increasingly reached out cross-culturally to

those in other nations?

We have held our International Mobilization Conerences

(hosted by Te Mission Society, see pages 17-21) in India.Aer Dr. Darrell Whiteman’s teaching about culture and

worldview, people begin to understand how they can

communicate their aith across cultural barriers. Tere has

been great excitement; some are teaching others what they

have learned. Among those who have attended the seminars,

there is a new boldness. Tis is a huge blessing or India,

and it is just the threshold o what is to come. One o the

participants is now even planning to go to the neighboring

country o Nepal to explore serving in missions there.

As Americans now take on a new role in missions (the

West is no longer in “the driver’s seat”), what would be

your message or the church in the United States and in

the West?

Te church in the West has great love and zeal, and what they

do and have done has been purely to reach the lost and theleast. And I know it will continue. God is raising more and

more workers to come and serve in this part o the world.

It will be a big challenge or the West not to sit in the

driver’s seat. I have seen, though, short-term teams rom

the West that have truly taken a back seat, trusting the

Indian leadership on the ground. Te results have been

good—healthy relationships and partnerships as equals. o

work with other cultures, we need humility, adaptability,

compassion, a genuine interest in others, a willingness to

serve, and a bias or cooperation and partnership as equals.

Westerners should also know that Indian people perceive

Christianity as a Western religion, which can be a hindrance

to the gospel in some areas. Also, Western Christians are o-

ten perceived as looking or numbers (stories about crowds o

people coming to Christ). Indians are not looking or num-

bers. Tey are interested in going deep. Tey are interested in

genuine partnership with Westerners—that Westerners would

oer discipleship resource materials and spend time with

the people o India, training alongside them as co-laborers

together building or the kingdom o God.

Westerners also need to understand that their presence in

some regions will bring more harm to sincere believers and

potential believers in that region. raining nationals seems

to be a tool that is working wonders. God has raised up many

Indian leaders who are doing exceedingly great work. We

need mission leaders rom the East and West to unite, to seek

together the kingdom rst, to look at the areas o greatest

need in our nation, research the places, identiy ministry

strengths that could address those needs, and assign work.

Tus, we can maximize potential and resources.

The West has untold resources—not just money, but skills

in training and equipping leaders, and materials and tools togauge eectiveness. Money should not dictate the relationship

between the West and other mission movements, and there

should never be a pressure to produce numbers, but

to understand how our cultures can work together to build

Christ’s church in deeper relationship with Him. Tat is

discipleship “dipped in curry.” As one great Indian saint has

said, "Give the gospel in Indian cup."




Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil

Wie: Audir Santos Lopes

Church: Brazilian Methodist Church

Children: João Paulo and Pedro Henrique

Lie examples: my ather, João Lopes; Larry

Brown, American missionary to Brazil; E. Stanley

Jones, and my good riend, Darrell Whiteman

Favorite verse or book o the Bible: Acts 20:24

“A renewal movement is sweeping through the Methodist Church o Brazil, and these believers are exhibitinga vision or participating in mission beyond their geographical and cultural boundaries,” wrote Frank Decker, a

vice president o The Mission Society during a Global Mission and Evangelism Conerence in Brazil. In 2006, TheMission Society entered into the process o mission development with the Methodist Church o Brazil. It beganwhen the Brazilian church asked i The Mission Society could help it become a mission-sending church.

Bishop Joao Carlos Lopes served rom 2006-2012 as the president o the College o Bishops o the BrazilianMethodist Church and presently serves as its vice president and as the president o the College o Bishops o CIEMAL. He has played a key role in the mission movement currently happening in this South American nation,encouraging Brazilian Methodist churches to ocus on missions and helping to establish a missionary sendingagency to mobilize, train, and send Brazilian Methodist missionaries. Says Lopes, “Our Brazilian leaders realize thatit’s urgent that the Brazilian church begin to see itsel as a sending church, and that we see we have the resourcesto engage the world and not just our nation.” Here, Lopes describes the mission movement developing among

Brazilian Methodists.

Bishop João Carlos Lopes – Brazil

What do you observe the Lord doing in your nation

right now, particularly with regards to missions?

In the last 15 years I have seen the Brazilian church moving

rom a missionary-receiving country to a missionary-

sending country. Little by little, the churches (dierent

denominations as well as local congregations) are

recognizing the importance o becoming actively involved in

cross-cultural missions.

Can you describe how the increase in missions’ mobili-zation in Brazil has come about and what has resulted

in this growing awareness o missions?

For many years the church o Brazil experienced good

growth. Te growth, however, was mostly internal with little

concern or cross-cultural missions. I believe one o the

reasons is because Brazil is so large and, thus, people tend

to think that there is enough work to be done within the

country.

But during this time a ew local congregations, as well as

some para-ecclesiastical organizations, became involved in

cross-cultural missions. Little by little, the Holy Spirit began

to develop an awareness among churches o the wholeness

o the Great Commission. In other words, Acts 1:8 does not

say you will be my witnesses either in Jerusalem or Judea, or

Samaria, but in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria. One does

not exclude the others. Tereore, the churches in Brazil are

increasingly becoming aware o the blessing o “going and

making disciples o all nations.”

Tis awareness in the Brazilian Methodist Church has beendeveloped especially with the help o Te Mission Society,

which has held International Mobilization Conerences in

seven o the eight Annual Conerences in Brazil. Hundreds

o Brazilian Methodist pastors and lay leaders have attended

those conerences and have returned to their churches on

re or missions. Also rom 2007-2010, Te Mission Society’s

Orientation raining or new missionaries was held in Brazil,

which made it possible or many Brazilian Methodist leaders

to be trained alongside Mission Society missionaries and




people rom other parts o the world.

At the same time, Brazil began to grow economically.

And the church now understands that we cannot only send

missionaries, but we are also able to support them nancially

as well. For example, in the last few years the 6th Regionof the Brazilian Methodist Church has sent fully supported

missionaries to Peru, England, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany,

and Portuguese-speaking communities in the United States.

What are the particular challenges being elt as cross-

cultural missions has become more and more a elt

priority among your churches?

1. o avoid building wherever others have already built (not

repeating eorts).

2. o convince the people who are called to cross-cultural

ministry o the importance o cross-cultural training.

In other words, charisma and the desire to serve are

essential, but there is still the need or training—both

ormational and inormational.

3. o deal with the church’s institutional structure,

which sometimes becomes a hindrance to mission

(maintenance vision versus missionary vision).

How has the church responded—or is it responding—to

those challenges?

1. We seek to become inormed o what is already going on

in the places God calls us to go. And we seek to partner

with those who are already there. For example, in

Portugal we desire to support the revitalization project

o the church, so we partner with the North Georgia

Conerence o Te United Methodist Church, which also

has the same desire.

2. We require basic training or anyone (laity or clergy) who

wants to get involved in cross-cultural mission. Every

person we have sent so ar has passed through some

basic training.

3. We seek to be aithul to the church structure as muchas possible. However, we have decided that obedience

to God comes beore obedience to any institutional

structure. We also seek to inuence changes in the

structure o the church. As an example, a ew years ago, the

Methodist Church o Brazil understood that missionaries

could only be sent through the church’s national

headquarters. But the 2006 General Conerence decided

that all Annual Conerences and even the local churches

are to be encouraged to send missionaries overseas.

What has been helpul as Brazilian Christians and

churches have increasingly reached out cross-culturally

to those in other nations?

wo things have been very helpul. Learning rom both the

successes and the mistakes o those who have done cross-cultural mission beore us; and partnering with those—like

Te Mission Society—who are willing to help us to train

people in cross-cultural missions.

In your thinking, what are the top three essential prac-

tices or principles in communicating the gospel cross-

culturally?

1. Dierent cultures are not a curse, but a blessing rom

God. Te gospel o Jesus Christ afrms most o culture;

critiques some o culture; and transorms all o culture.

2. God is at work in a culture long beore we (or any

Christian witness) ever get there.

3. A loving heart and a servant's attitude will break barriers.

The whole mission scene has changed around the world

with the growth o the mission movement in the Global

South and East. As Americans now take on a new role in

missions, what would be your message to the church in

the United States and in the West?

First, we need to recognize and praise the Lord or the

church in the United States and Europe or bringing the

gospel to us.

Second, we must recognize that, although the mission

scene is changing, the church in the United States and

Europe will continue to be the center or theological and

missionary training or many years to come. In other words,

we still need the North American and European churches

to help equip and communicate missional knowledge to our

people.

Finally, we should recognize that the task is way too big

or us to continue to think in terms o “we” and “they” (the

church in the West and the church in the Global South andEast). We are the body o Christ, and Jesus did not label the

dierent parts o His body as “the part under the equator

and the part above the equator,” nor did he label them by

time zones.

God has equipped each part o His body or a specic

work or the common good .




Hometown: Born in Bomet, then moved to

Nakuru. Now lives in Kericho.

Wie: Alice Mutai

Church: Arica Gospel Church

Children: Deborah, Enoch, Margaret Bett

(adopted), Naomi, and Elijah

Lie examples: William Carey, Hudson Taylor

Favorite verse or book o the Bible: The book

o John and the epistles

The Rev. David Mutai is the director o outreach or Kenya’s Arica Gospel Church (AGC), providing overallleadership or an enterprise that involves nearly 40 Kenyan missionaries serving among several unreached tribes

within Kenya and in three neighboring countries. He and his wie, Alice, have a passion to see missionariesserving eectively and seeing many people come to Christ and strong, growing churches established. Earlier intheir ministry, or nearly seven years they served as AGC missionaries in Turkwel where they labored among the

Turkana people. The Mutais come rom the Kalinjin tribe and lived in Nakuru, a city in Kenya’s amous Rit Valley. Toeectively engage Turkana people, they moved to a remote village where they lived in a traditional Turkana hut,sleeping on leather mats on the ground. Ater seven years, they had so mastered the language and embracedthe culture that they were adopted into the Turkana tribe. So when David speaks o the urgency o sendingcross-cultural workers to labor among least reached peoples, he’s sharing out o his own experience. Since 2007,Mr. Mutai has been instrumental in guiding The Mission Society’s work in the areas o missions mobilization andmissionary training in Kenya.

David Mutai – Kenya

What do you see the Lord doing in Kenya right now?

Te church in Kenya is growing. Te church in Arica is

growing. I have heard that Arica will be the hub o sending

missions in the uture. God is awakening the church o

Christ. Mission organizations and ministries now need

to come together to create a movement in Kenya and in

Arica as a whole. I have in my ofce several applications

rom agencies o dierent denominations asking, “Let’s

work together.” So the Spirit o Christ is going beyond

denominationalism. O course, there are bound to be issues

with theology, but I think God is helping us to overcomesome o those things. So we thank God or that.

Can you describe how the mission movement in Kenya

has come about?

wo things. One, media has touched the hearts o people

in tribes and communities in this country. wo, Te

Mission Society and other groups, including my church,

have sensitized people to missions through international

mobilization training (see pages 17-21). Arica is an oral

culture. I you train 10 people, they will tell the story to

others. And when they tell the story to others, the story

goes out. Because people are telling other people about

International Mobilization Conerences we did with Te

Mission Society in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2012, almost every

member in my own church has learned about missions.

With that in mind, what are the particular challenges

that you and other leaders ace as you reach out to least

reached people within Kenya and even beyond?

Somebody might say that nances are a problem. o me,nances are not an issue. Where God has called, He will

open the doors. But church leadership is an obstacle. I a

church leader or pastor has been asked about missions, they

will send a missionary and say, “Go, and God bless you,” and

that missionary is orgotten. Tey are not encouraged. Tey

lack pastoral care. I tell you, the number-one obstacle and

the number-one prayer is or church leaders to open doors

or missions. I missions is preached in a local church once

a month, it should make a big dierence. But in Kenya, we




have mission sermons every month, even every week, and

still missions is orgotten. So I want the church o Christ to

do more than preach about it. God is putting in my heart to

charge and encourage leadership to do that.

When I asked about obstacles, I think I imagined that

you might have reerred to some external obstacle.

But what you’ve said is an internal obstacle, and that

maybe suggests that the external stu God can deal

with pretty well i the church will be the church, but

that requires leaders to lead in a way that is aithul to

the heart o God and the mission o God.

Can I tell you an example? South Sudan. Some our years ago,

people were not able to tell about Christ in Southern Sudan.

But now the government o South Sudan is encouraging

Christians to come to South Sudan and help the church.

Tat’s God dealing with outside obstacles. So yes, there are

external issues like Islam, or example, but I’m sure i the

church o Christ will move and pray hard, those barriers will

be gone.

What has been helpul as churches in Kenya have

reached out cross-culturally to ellow countrymen, par-

ticularly to the least reached in Kenya?

Te best thing is the way that the Lord is opening up

unreached communities.

For example, a community in Eastern Kenya called

Arica Gospel Church to come and help them introduce the

gospel. People in Mombasa, where people had chased away

missionaries in the 18th and 19th century, came all the way

to Kericho and told our bishop, “Please come to us. We are

giving you 50 acres or you to build your church. I you want,

you can build a hospital or a school. But the biggest thing

is what we once reused, we want back.” So they are telling

us, “Come back.” It’s overwhelming. Tere were times I had

to look at missionaries and had not much or them to do.But now, there are not enough missionaries. God is opening

doors to these communities.

Te church needs to know what we’re going to do. We

need three things.

1. We need God Himsel leading us. We need to listen to

God’s still voice, because He has a plan or everything

we do in the church.

2. Missionaries need to be prepared. Tis is key.

3. Te sending church has to be prepared or the challenges

that will come its way, and it has to be prepared not

to expect results very soon. I a missionary goes out

prepared to learn the culture and learn the language, the

Lord will work through the relationship that is built withthe people. It may take some time.

Can you say a bit more about what it means to ade-

quately prepare a missionary to go into another cul-

ture?

God brought Te Mission Society to Kenya or a reason.

Many times, there were missionaries who were sent out,

but they got burned out, because they were not adequately

prepared. So, we require our missionaries to attend Te

Mission Society's training (see pages 22-25). Also, gathering a

community who will stand behind the missionary to pray or

them is part o the preparation. In the International Mobili-

zation Conerences seminars, we learn that what God will do

will not be dependent on a church budget; it will be depen-

dent on prayer. Tose who are praying move God’s hands. It’s

very important that we do things in aith. I tell you, it works.

As Americans now take on a new role in missions, what

would your message to the church in the West be?

1. We’ll have dierent roles (as we see Western missionaries

taking on right now), but the work o missions will not

end until Jesus comes or His church.

2. Partnership with the Western missionaries is very

important. I am not talking about the partnership (that

people sometimes want) o money. I’m talking about

working together—you teach us what we don’t know; we

teach you what you don’t know. As the Arican proverb

says, “I you want to go ast, go alone. I you want to go

ar, go with others.” Tat is true and we want to go ar in

missions.

I will tell you one more thing. Te churches in Arica

need to take the battle on and move orward. I’m acceptedin the Middle East better than a Westerner. I’m accepted in

closed countries more readily than a Westerner. We have

opportunities that God has given to the church in Arica. We

need to rise up and do it. Let’s do it together. I hear a lot o

people saying, “We are done with missions in Arica,” but I

will tell you, no. You are not done. Jesus has not yet come.






Christian historians estimate that Christianity makes up about the same proportiono the world’s population as it did in 1910. What has changed is where Christians live.

The Global South and East have now become the center o Christianity. This meansWestern Christians have a new role—to help equip and encourage the non-Westernchurch as it enters unreached areas with the gospel and to learn rom it about

evangelism in the 21st century.A key strategy in developing a global “kingdom collaborative” is The Mission Society’sinternational mobilization eort. Read about what we learn as we engage withbrothers and sisters in the Majority World.

Theirs is the kingdom

Ask Michael Mozley, who heads Te Mission Society’s

international mobilization eorts, what he’s most excited

about as he observes the worldwide church, and he will talk

about the passion or missions in the Majority World. “In

India, and Ghana, and Kenya, and Brazil, and Tailand, I

hear young people 13-28 years old say, ‘I want to win our

nation or Christ.’ I hear it time and time and time again,”

says Mozley. “In the Majority World, there is a hunger and

excitement to share the gospel. In Kenya recently, we saw that

there is a grassroots movement o people who are saying, ‘I

want to leave my village, my people, and go reach another

people—whether it’s in Kenya, or Somalia, or Uganda, or

some other surrounding area.’ … Te Global South and East

(Arica, Asia, and South America) are denitely where the

greatest Christian movement is now.”

For years, Mozley has been uniquely positioned to observe

God’s Spirit calling individuals and churches to missions. Asdirector o missionary personnel (1996-1999), he oversaw the

mobilization o Mission Society missionaries. Ten he served

with his amily or 10 ½ years in Ghana, West Arica. Tree

years ago, he rejoined the sta to head Te Mission Society’s

international mobilization eort. He is currently pursuing a

Ph.D. in Arican theology rom Akro-Christaller Institute

o Teology, Culture, and Mission, Akropong, Ghana.

In his present role in international mobilization, Mozley

leads a global team o teachers and trainers. Tese women

and men come alongside indigenous pastors and church

leaders to oer tools or mobilizing their congregations or

local, regional, and international missions. Tis training

usually takes place in a our-day event—called International

Mobilization Conerences (IMC)—and is oen so well

received that teams are invited back to do more teaching.

Already, IMCs have been held in 10 countries, and in places

like Nigeria, the materials used at IMCs are being used

by national mission movements. (See the evolution o the

International Mobilization in the timeline on page 18.)

Here, we ask Mozley about his observations o the churchin the Majority World as believers there increasingly engage

in missions.




The ags shown here represent the

countries and the order in which

The Mission Society’s International

Mobilization Conerences have been

held since 2002.

2002 f William Johnson, a Mission Soci-

ety board member, taught the “Global

Focus Seminar” in Kenya. Johnson

urged The Mission Society to launch

mission eorts internationally. In

Kenya, the teaching took o. Kenyans

mobilized to reach unreached tribes.

2003 f The Mission Society taught the

“Global Vision Seminar” in Ghana to

a group o 12 hand-chosen ministry

leaders. Those 12 were trained in

leading the seminar and began to

teach it in local churches around

Ghana.

What would we in the United States be really surprised to know about the way

that Christianity is understood or practiced in the Majority World?

We would probably be surprised that there is a sense o truly believing everything

that is in the scriptures. For Aricans, or example, their rst worldview is spiritual,

not rational or physical. Tey understood that the spiritual world is alive and real

long beore they had the names o God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So when they

grasp a belie in the living God in the person o Jesus Christ, it’s like unleashing in

them a tidal wave o reedom. Tey believe God to heal, and deliver, and save. Tey

trust what the scripture say. And this seems to be the case throughout the Majority

World. I think this understanding o the spiritual world as primary is one reason why

there is such an explosion o growth in the church in South America, Asia, and Arica.

These national church leaders have so much to teach us. What part o the

teaching oered in the International Mobilization Conerences seems

particularly helpul to them?

Te piece that Darrell Whiteman teaches about crossing cultural barriers and

understanding worldview has been, hands-down, the most inuential, mind- and




2004 f Ministry leaders rom Latin

America, Arica, and Asia reviewed the

“Global Vision Seminar” and helped

revise it or cross-cultural use. The

seminar was rewritten and renamed

the “Global Outreach Seminar.”

2005 f The Global Outreach Seminar

was taught in Spanish in Costa Rica.

Seventy-ve ministry leaders attended

the conerence, representing six

denominations and 10 Latin American

countries. All the delegates were

given a complete set o teaching

materials so they could teach theseminar in local churches.

2006 f An International Mobilization

Conerence (IMC) was held in Nairobi,

Kenya. Seventy-ve ministry leaders

attended rom 10 countries. David

Mutai, director o missions or Kenya’s

Arica Gospel Church (AGC) invited the

team to return and share the teaching

with AGC’s pastors and leaders. f Kenyan ministry leaders taught

the seminar with Mission Society

sta in northern Kenya. People rom

Samburu, Trukana, and Boran tribes

were among those who attended.

f An IMC was held in Brazil. The

Methodist Church o Brazil invited The

Mission Society to teach the seminar

in each Annual Conerences.

heart-transorming part. It radically changes the way people

think and eel about their own and others’ cultures. For

example, in his teaching on worldview, Darrell compares

a person’s worldview to an iceberg. Our behavior is just

the small tip that can be seen, but underneath the water is

this massive amount o what we really believe. It’s hidden.

And so, what we really believe may be hidden even rom us

and may be more inuenced by our culture—or example,

by superstition, or olk religion, or materialism—than by

Christian aith.

What are some memories that stand out or you as you

have spent time with national leaders in Majority World

countries?

I have two. Near the end o the International Mobilization

Conerences, we do a certain talk called “Grounding Your

Church in Prayer.” In the room where we teach, we hang ags

rom all over the world. At the end o the talk, we encourage

the participants to ask God what ag they should go to. And

they go stand in ront o a ag and lay hands on and pray or

the people o that country. So you will see an Ecuadorian

praying over the ag o Pakistan, or Iran, or Finland and

weeping. Some are praying or the rst time or another

people group, tribe, or nation. And by the power o the Holy

Spirit, God breaks the hearts o these brothers and sisters. In

those moments it seems that God lls them, not only with

compassion or other nations, but with a realization that He

wants to use them in His mission in the whole world.

At the end o that session, everyone surrounds the ag o

the host country and holds it up. Some people have anointed

it with oil. I’ve seen key national leaders, sometimes bishops,

begin to weep. Sometimes they’ll kneel down and lay the ag

on the ground, and pray and cry, asking God to pour out His

Spirit over their country. I have remarkable images seared in




my memory o God breaking the hearts o people or their

nation and the world. It’s an amazing experience.

My other memory happened in New Delhi last February.

As we were going through the regular course o the

teaching, at one point, I stood up and said to the group that

I elt strongly impressed that what God was doing in that

conerence was raising up the next generation o people

who would be evangelists like Billy Graham, and who would

go—no matter their situation—to the surrounding nations

to reach those people with the gospel. Aer I made that

comment, there was no response, and I sat down. People

went on about the seminar. Te next day, a pastor stood up

and said, “God spoke to me so clearly that He wants to raise

up rom within our small congregation missionaries who

will go into Pakistan and Bangladesh.” Tis just broke my

heart, because this pastor had come rom one o the poorest

regions o India and yet he was believing God to raise up

missionaries rom his church.

What I love about directing our international mobilization

eorts is the incredible privilege I have o engaging and

interacting with some o the key, national leaders, many o

whom are not prominent; they’re the oot soldiers who are

ministering in incredible ways, making a signicant impact

in the kingdom and in missions. Some o them have been

persecuted or their aith; some have sacriced so much to

carry the gospel to parts o their country and beyond. Being

able to sit down with them or a meal and hear their stories

is a very humbling experience. I think about the incredible

resources we have in comparison to what they have, and yet

they continue to stay missionally ocused.

2007 f Two IMCs were held in Recie and

Curitiba, Brazil.

f A second IMC was held in Kenya,

which was attended by 185 people

rom 35 denominations.

f John Kareithi was employed as a

country coordinator or Kenya. Over

a two-year period the seminar waspresented in dozens o locations

in Kenya as well as in several

neighboring countries, including

Sudan, Congo, Tanzania, and others.

2008 f The Mission Society held an

IMC or the Arica Gospel Church

denomination in Kenya.

f A second IMC was held or The

Methodist Church Ghana.

f An IMC was held near Monterrey,

Mexico.

f

IMCs were held in Porto Vello andPorto Alegre, Brazil.

f A third IMC was held in Kenya to

present the material to the annual

pastor’s conerence o the Arica

Gospel Church. More than 700 pastors

and ministry leaders attended the

conerence. There was a 100 percent

increase in missions giving in the AGC

the ollowing year.

2009 f An IMC was held in Jos, Nigeria,

hosted by the Nigeria Evangelical

Mission Association (NEMA). NEMA

had adopted the Global Outreach

Seminar as its preerred tool or

mobilizing churches and renamed it

“Global Engagement Training.”




2010 f No IMCs were taught

internationally due to nancial

constraints.

2011 f Two IMCs were taught or the rst

time in India.

f An IMC was taught in Togo or

French-speaking West Aricans or the

rst time.

2012 f Two more IMCs were taught in

India.

f A ourth IMC was taught in Kenya.

f An IMC was taught in Lesotho.

f Two IMCs were held in Ecuador or

the rst time.

“What I love about directing our international mobilization

eorts,” says Michael Mozley, “is the incredible privilege I have o

engaging with some o the key, national leaders who are making

a signicant impact in the kingdom.”

Their having ewer resources hasn’t diminished their

passion or reaching the least reached.

Yes. In 1984, I was a one-year missionary in Ghana. I

remember re-reading Matthew 5 and 6, and I was struck

by the verse, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, or theirs is the

kingdom o heaven.” When I read that, I had a new revelation

that when you live without a lot o earthly possessions, you

might have a sense o helplessness, which may actually be

a hopeulness and a trust in Jesus—that He can meet every

need. In many areas in the Majority World are people who

are poor in spirit; they have nothing to hold onto except Jesus.

And they really, ully trust that He will do this incredible

work all over the world, and that He will use them, even

though they don’t have anything. Tey are the poor in spirit,

and theirs is the kingdom o heaven. U




Communicating the true gospelFeeling uneasy in expressing your aith? Learn what missionaries learn.

Missionary training is not just or missionaries. To be eective witnesses in our workplacesand neighborhoods requires learning some basic principles, usually considered cross-culturalcommunication skills. Here, Dr. Darrell Whiteman, cultural anthropologist, oers someguidance. The gospel may prove to be more lie-giving than you ever dreamed.

An interview

Throughout your career, you have helped train mission-

aries and church leaders rom many dierent cultures.

What have you observed to be o central importance ineectively communicating the gospel?

Te most important thing in communicating the gospel

across culture is condence in the gospel and humility in

the way we communicate it. Oen it’s the other way around.

We’re not real ly condent in the gospel, and we’re arrogant

about the way we communicate it. I the gospel has not

impacted and transormed our own lives, then we’re just

talking out o someone else’s book.

So the gospel that is alive in our own lives, that helps us

through troubled times, that inspires us, leads us, motivates

us—that’s the gospel I’m talking about. Tat gospel has got to

be communicated with a very humble spirit. It is importantto know the gospel, and then go as a learner. Understand

that the people you will be interacting with (even i you

are just going across the street) likely come rom a very

dierent world rom yours. Tey are asking entirely dierent

questions and have dierent doubts than you do.

So oen we’re in such a hurry to communicate what we

want to say that we don’t take the time to understand the

people and their culture. Our ocus should not be to speak

eloquently or be scholarly, but to hear: what are the things




over which this person is crying, or eeling hopeless, or even

laughing? Until we cry and laugh with people, we don’t know

how the gospel is going to connect. What’s important is

establishing that relationship. Trough that relationship the

true gospel will really ow, and when that happens, it has

been eectively communicated.

When we go with condence in

the gospel and communicate it with

humility, we start to understand the

gospel in a way we have not beore.

We actually learn more about the gospel by sharing it with

people who are dierent rom us. We are exposed to things

in scripture that we never saw beore.

For example, I’m not aware that I ocus on individualism

and sel-reliance; that’s just who I am as an American. But

when I communicate the same gospel to Aricans whoseidentity is tied to who they are in the community—not

what they achieve individually—I start to have a whole new

appreciation or the gospel's emphasis on the body o Christ.

It’s important to know what the gospel is not. Growing up

in an evangelical home, I had the idea that a Christian was

someone who didn’t do ve dierent things: smoke, drink,

play cards, go to movies, and dance. When I talk to people

about these things, they oen say, “Yeah, that’s what we were

told about the gospel, too.” But this is not the gospel.

When we start to peel away what the gospel is not, we

start to see the true gospel. Tis is what we need to be

communicating. When I travel to Arica and India, I

encounter pastors dressed in suits and ties in hot, tropical

climates. Why? Because they’ve been told that a minister

o the gospel must dress like this. Oen

they look strange in their own culture,

and this communicates to the people in

the local community that the gospel is

something oreign that was brought here.

Tat’s the tragedy. Sometimes, instead o communicating

that the gospel is or people in their culture, we end up

miscommunicating it by dressing it up in our American

cultural garb.

As the West increasingly becomes post-Christian,eectively communicating the gospel within our own

neighborhoods, communities, and churches may seem

progressively more complicated. I you could help train

pastors, church leaders, and the Christian community in

the United States about how to best communicate the

gospel right here at home, what would you want to say?

North American pastors need to understand that the

incarnation is a model or how to do ministry. Tis can

come as a surprise. Let me tell you a story. I had nished

Darrell Whiteman, Ph.D., ormer missionary to

Papua New Guinea, is The Mission Society’s resident

missiologist and vice president or mission mobilization

and training. Prior to joining the sta o The Mission

Society in 2005, Whiteman served as dean o the E.

Stanley Jones School o World Mission and Evangelism

and proessor o cultural anthropology at Asbury

Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Through hisexperience in cross-cultural mission, he has developed

a passion or helping others understand how to

communicate the gospel across cultural barriers.

“Preach the gospel at all times and

when necessary use words.”

–St. Francis o Assisi




speaking at an event (in which I spoke about incarnation as

a ministry model), and a pastor who had been in the church

35 years went to the organizer o the event and told him, “I

have never heard anyone talk about the incarnation as a way

o doing ministry. I always thought it was just a theological

doctrine. I always assumed that it was

my congregation’s responsibility to

understand me, because I was the one

who had all the training; I was the one

who knew how to exegete scripture, had

a proper hermeneutic, all those things I

learned in seminary. I didn’t realize I hadto enter into the lie o my congregation.”

We have to be incarnational in our ministries. We are

living in an increasingly multicultural society. Everywhere

you turn, people speak dierent languages and have dierent

worldviews. I you want to be an eective pastor (or witness

o the gospel), you have to become an eective missionary.

Stop speaking “church language” and enter the world o

unchurched people.

As the West becomes increasingly post-Christian, there

is greater reaction against Christianity, particularly against

mainline denominations. We’re discovering that people are

turned o to church, but they are still attracted to Jesus. In

the crosscultural training Te Mission Society does, we

suggest that missionaries try simply telling the story o Jesus,

and let the people gure out how Jesus

connects with their world.

What thrills me is to discover that

the basic principles that we’ve always

thought were training or cross-cultural

missionaries turn out to be relevant or

pastors, laypeople, everyone. God isat work in the lie o every person long

beore we show up. So our job is to enter into relationships in

our churches and neighborhoods as a learner, really wanting

to hear the heart cries o the other. Ten when we express the

true gospel—which has been reed rom orms and rules that

have nothing to do with the gospel—our sharing becomes

simply a matter o blowing on a ame already begun in

hearts by the Holy Spirit. U

Read like a missionaryAs part o their training, missionaries with The Mission Society are assigned reading. Here is a list o someo the books they read prior to leaving or their cross-cultural ministry assignments. Some o them areChristian classics. Consider adding one o these to your 2013 reading list.

People Raising, by William Dillon

The Great Omission, by Dallas Willard

Basic Christianity , by John Stott

Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster

The Way to Heaven: The Gospel According to John

Wesley , by Steve Harper

Living Proof , by Jim Peterson

Ministering Cross Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships, by SherwoodLingenelter

Christianity in Culture, by Charles Krat

A book o the centuryBasic Christianity , by John Stott

“I Jesus was not God in human esh, Christianity is exploded,” writes John Stott. “We are let

with just another religion with some beautiul ideas and noble ethics; its unique distinction

has gone.” In one o his classic writings, Basic Christianity , Stott examines the historical acts

on which Christianity stands. Named among Christianity Today 's “Top 100 Books o the

20th Century,” Basic Christianity is a sound, sensible guide or all who seek an intellectually

satisying explanation o the Christian aith.

“What thrills me is to discover that the

basic principles that we’ve always

thought were training or cross-cultural

missionaries turn out to be relevant or

pastors, laypeople, everyone.”




“Training makes all the dierence”“I would say that the overarching purpose o our training is to help connect God’s Word (which is or all time and cultures)

with the world (which is always changing),” says Dr. Darrell Whiteman, who helps prepare Mission Society missionaries to

communicate the gospel cross-culturally. We asked Mission Society missionaries to tell how the training they received a-

ected their ministries and helped them connect with the people they serve. Here is what they told us.

ExceptionalEveryone has a calling. Everyone can have passion to serve.

And everyone can have good intentions. But the key actor

that makes all o those things work together eectively—the

key thing that blends call and passion and good intentions

into a beautiul and appropriate gi—is the exceptional

training that we receive, both beore going to the eld and

while we are serving. raining makes all the dierence. Te

more we learn about culture, anthropology, missiology,

history, and relationship, we see that it is all intertwined, and

it all weaves together to make the dierence in being eective

servants or the kingdom.

Billy Drum

serving in Peru

Vital

As or our training: rst, it was awesome! We agree that

ocusing on going in as a learner and building relationships

is vital to survival on the ground. Spending time in

relationship building is helping to break down walls and

build bridges into the community and villages that are close

to us.

Also, knowing about culture shock has been vital to

survival. We learned in training that, as you hang in through

this awul time, you will come out stronger in your aith,

with a closer relationship to God, and a better understanding

o yoursel and the people you serve among.

raining gave us the opportunity to meet and bond with

other missionaries. Many o those relationships continue

even aer not seeing these people or more than two years.

Keeping in touch via email and newsletters allows us to pray or and encourage one another. It is like we are all one big

amily. Even though we are spread out all over the world, we

all have the same mission—God’s mission.

Lorna and Travis Curry

serving in Namibia

PracticalFor me, the Mission Mobilization conerences that Te

Mission Society organizes (see pages 17-22) were extremely

important. I had the chance to participate in three o them

in Brazil [Gustavo's homeland]. Tese conerences help local

churches and leaders to think about mission in practical

and relevant ways. oday, my amily and I live and minister

cross-culturally in Paris, France. Tanks to many things that

are taught in these trainings, we are not only here serving

on the mission eld, but we also have many local churches

in Brazil who were motivated by these trainings and are now

partners with us in this work in France.

Gustavo Faleiro

serving in France

Scriptural

We learned in Te Mission Society’s training the strong

scriptural basis or “incarnational living,” and how many

doors to ministry can open when we live lie with people

and learn rom them. Te willingness o Katherine [Stotler]

to go humbly as a learner and walk alongside the Xhosa

people in South Arica earned her an invitation rom the

Headman to serve on the community committee overseeing

the community project. At rst, some were skeptical or

uncertain o the relational approach Katherine utilized. But

as they saw that her actions matched her words, they realized

that she saw hersel as co-equal in ministry, and her peer

relationships deepened dramatically. Because she did not

seek to impose her belies on them, the community sought

her involvement and ideas, which gave her a natural platorm

rom which to share the gospel.Elliott Stotler

serving in South Arica

For more inormation about these or any o our missionaries, visit themissionsociety.org/learn/whereweserve



A year in reviewReecting on the advance o God’s kingdom through

The Mission Society. The gures below refect activity

between May 31, 2011 and May 31, 2012.

As o May 31, 2012, there were 233

Mission Society missionaries serving

in 42 countries.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

MEXICO

BRAZILPERU

BOLIVIA

PARAGUAY

ECUADOR

NICARAGUA

HAITI

COSTA RICA

Number o Mission Society missionaries

Number o countries in which Mission Society

missionaries serve

Number o new ministry locations opened

(Estonia and South Sudan)

Number o new missionaries approved or service

Number o missionaries deployed or the rst time

Number o new interns approved and deployed

Number o Global Outreach Weekends held in U.S. churches.(Events were held in 10 states: Alabama, Caliornia, Georgia,

Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, and

Washington)

Number o international missionaries, pastors, and church

leaders (those rom countries other than the United States)

trained by The Mission Society.

23342

2

271512

19

295




EXPENSES

76% Ministry and programs (missionaries and projects,

church mobilization, international mobilization

conerences, training and resident missiologist)

24% Ministry support (president's ofce, nance and

accounting, advancement, IT and personnel)

Total expenses: $9,005,225

REVENUE

50% Individuals

33% Churches

16% Private oundations and other

1% Other income

Total revenue: $9,264,255

Audited nancial statements areavailable on The Mission Society’swebsite: themissionsociety.org or byrequest to its nance department,phone: 678.542.9050.

RUSSIA

CHINA

INDIA

FRANCE

GERMANY

UNITEDKINGDOM

KAZAKHSTAN

THAILAND

MALAYSIA

PAPUA NEWGUINEA

NEWZEA

PHILIPPINESCAMBODIA

JAPAN

KENYA

TANZANIAZAMBIA

SOUTH AFRICA

GHANA

TOGO

ISRAEL

NAMIBIA

GUINEASENEGAL

Ministrysupport

Ministry andprograms

Individuals

Churches

Privateoundationsand other

Otherincome


SOUTH SUDAN

ESTONIA



28

News

Reaching least reached peoples using business

Reaching the world’s unreached and

under-evangelized communities will

require “all hands on deck.” his, o

course, includes businesspeople. In

act, now, maybe more than ever

beore, Christian business leaders have

the chance to play a pivotal role in

transorming society and spreading the

gospel, according to Michael R. Baer,

businessman, ormer pastor, and author

o Business as Mission.

“Business is another way to reach

into unreached areas,” says Denny Brown, who heads he Mission

Society’s Marketplace Ministries

division, which launched in January

o this year. “Business is a model or

ministry that sustains itsel and gives

business owners and managers an

opportunity to disciple their employees,

because employers are with their

workers every day. And a business that

treats its people well, provides a good

service, and puts money back into the

local economy gloriies God.”

A ormer businessman himsel,

Denny served rom 2003-2011 as he

Mission Society’s vice president or

advancement. “I elt God calling me

to do business as mission,” he says.

“I’m thankul to our president, Dick

McClain, and to our board o directors

or allowing me to pursue this calling.”

Recently, Denny released the

plan or the Marketplace Ministry (MPM) Division, which is now being

implemented. he plan ocuses on

three areas as ollows.

1. Support missionaries who are

engaged in Business as Mission

“One o the most eective ways to

begin marketplace ministry is to

come alongside missionaries who are

already involved, to some extent, in

the marketplace,” notes Denny. o that

end, he Mission Society’s Marketplace

Ministries division provides

missionaries with business expertise,

advisory support, inormation, and

contacts which they may otherwise

have no access to. Marketplace

Ministries also networks with other

Christian business proessionals willing

to provide support and counsel to

cross-cultural workers.

2. Provide business development/

training or church planters

A strategic alliance is being developed

with Global Disciples, a ministry that

provides training to help national

church planters and evangelists

start very basic businesses that will

und and sustain their ministries.

Global Disciples’ program has

The Mission Society’s Marketplace Ministries Division releases its strategic plan

Winter 2012 themissionsociety.org

“Our Marketplace Ministries activities are being done in connection with missionaries, nationals, and local churches,” says Denny

Brown, let, who heads The Mission Society’s new Marketplace Ministries Division. Denny is pictured here with Mission Society

missionary to Peru, Arthur Ivey, ar right. Ivey has developed “kingdom businesses” with several o his Peruvian discipleship leaders,

like Rodolo Hinojosa, also shown. One o these kingdom businesses is a sot drink bottling plant in a rural jungle community.




been successully used with nearly

1000, church planters in a variety o

areas and has been translated into

14 dierent languages. raining is

already underway or a select group

o Mission Society team members

who are appropriately suited or this

area o ministry. “As the Lord directs,”

says Denny, “we anticipate developingstrategies in marketplace ministries

that will allow us to address all o our

ields, including areas otherwise closed

to the gospel but open to business

eorts.”

3. Oer marketplace ministry train-

ing through local churches

“We have ound that many U.S.

businesspeople in churches have an

interest in marketplace ministry,” says

Denny, “but have no idea how to get

involved or the opportunities available

to them.” he Mission Society’s

Marketplace Ministries and Church

Ministry divisions are collaborating

to develop a seminar. It will (1) update

businesspeople on what is happeningin the United States and around the

world, and (2) show how business is

being used to help others and lead

them into a growing relationship with

Christ. he seminar curriculum will

give examples o people successully

engaged in marketplace ministry. It

will also provide materials to help

and encourage participants to be “on

mission” in their local workplaces,

in hopes that some will hone their

skills and gain conidence to reach

out to others around the world. he

initial launch o this seminar will be

announced at a later date.

“O utmost importance,” says

Denny, “is to note that our Marketplace

Ministries activities are being donein connection with missionaries,

nationals, and local churches (in the

United States and internationally). In

other words, business is just one tool,

and we trust the Lord will use our

eorts to enhance the ministries o

others and to help reach into unreached

communities with the lie-changing

message o Jesus Christ.” U

he Mission Society hosted two International Mobilization Conerences in Ecuador October 15-25, 2012. he

conerences took place in Quito and Guayaquil.

Staers the Rev. Michael Mozley, senior director or international mobilization; and Steve Wilson, director

o missional communities, provided leadership or the conerence. Mission Society missionaries im, Daina,

and Kevin Datwyler, and Graham and Sharon Nichols, who serve in Ecuador, also assisted with the conerence.

Eric and Santa Owen, who serve with he United Methodist Men o the North Georgia Annual Conerence,

also led sessions, along with three seminary proessors rom the South American Nazarene heological

Seminary in Quito: Freddy Guerrero, Roberto Quinatoa, and Fernando Almeida.

More than 100 people attended the two conerences, representing various denominations and non-

denominational movements and several countries, including Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina.

he teaching o the International Mobilization Conerences (see pages 17-21) ocuses on the concepts o God

as a missionary God, the Bible as a missionary book, and God’s call or the church to be missionaries. he

teaching also includes training on crossing cultural barriers with the gospel.

Angelica, one o the seminary students in Quito, had previously committed to going to Cuba or two

months as a missionary. Angelica answered this call, but did not eel prepared. Ater completing this

conerence, she said she elt ready. “God broke her heart or the people o Cuba, and now He has provided

training. May God use this aithul servant or His glory and honor,” said Michael Mozley. U

Latin and South Americans

prepare to take gospel

beyond their borders

The Mission Society hosts InternationalMobilization Conerences in Ecuador



News


Mission training institute named to honor

The Mission Society’s ounding ‘rst couple’

In honor o he Mission Society’s ounding president and

wie, the Rev. Dr. H.. and Alice Maclin, he Mission Society

announced the ounding o “he H. . and Alice Maclin

Mission raining Institute” as the name o its uture annual

missionary training conerences. (he most recent o these

conerences was held in Huancayo, Peru in August o 2012.)

he Mission Society President Dick McClain and vice

presidents Jim Ramsay and Lewis von Herrmann presented

a ramed certiicate to H.. and Alice in their home in

Decatur, Georgia, in the presence o their three children. he

certiicate was accompanied by a letter rom he Mission

Society vice president and resident missiologist, Dr. Darrell

Whiteman. It included the ollowing:

“You [the Maclins] have already let he Mission

Society several legacies – rom your example o eective

communication o the gospel and tireless service in mission,

to your courageous guidance o he Mission Society through

its irst years, and to your continuous modeling lives o

servanthood. Now, as we announce the ounding o thisMission raining Institute, your legacy will expand. We will

orever be reminded o your commitment to solid, thorough,

missionary training. And what thrills us most is that

eective training led by he Mission Society is now taking

place all over the world. As the mission baton is rapidly being

passed rom the West to the Majority World, training that

prepares our brothers and sisters in Arica, Asia, and Latin

America or cross-cultural ministry will become even more

important.

“hank you or your lie-long commitment to mission, or

the way you continue to inspire and encourage those o us

who are ollowing in your ootsteps, and or your contagious

love or Jesus.”

In the past three years, he Mission Society has trained

60 Mission Society missionaries as they prepared or cross-

cultural ministry in various locations around the globe.

Orientation raining, now called he H. . and Alice

Maclin Mission raining Institute, has been held in Brazil

rom 2007-2010 and in Peru in 2011 and 2012. In addition

to the 60 missionaries trained, he Mission Society trained

114 ministry leaders, pastors, and missionaries rom other

countries including, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Haiti, Kenya, and

Jamaica. U

The Mission Society's ounding president

and president emeritus the Rev. Dr. H.T.

and Alice Maclin reared their our chil-

dren in Arica. Shown here (rom let to

right): Greg Maclin, Cathie Boyles, H.T.,

Alice, Susie Maclin, and her husband, John

Whitmire. The Maclins' youngest daughter,

Ruth, passed away in 2008.

Opportunity to pay tribute to the Maclins

The Maclin children have committed more than

$100,000 toward the unding o the Institute over

the next our years, and The Mission Society is

privileged to oer our riends the opportunity to

participate and to match the gits o the amily. I you

would like to join the Maclin amily in this special

honor, please contact Lewis von Herrmann in the

advancement ofce at 800.478.8963, or email him at

[email protected].



I listen to television ads every evening

that are ocused on lie-changing issues

such as home health care, reverse

mortgages, home security, and others.

o me it is clear that our nancial lives

require decisions and preparations or

which we may never have planned. And

as I observe people around me, the

unexpected happens so quickly that

ailing to plan creates major problems

or those who must care or them.

Recently, a close riend had a stroke

that prevented him rom returning

home. Te amily was given no

warning, and the resulting move to an

assisted living acility was not expected.

Fortunately, the amily had made some

good preparations in advance, and the

sudden change has enabled his bills to

be paid and his care to be handled.

Are you prepared to mobilize and to

move nancially on short notice? Your

lie could change immediately by a

health emergency, a car crash, or some

other accident. Let’s review some steps

that will ensure you are prepared to

activate your emergency plans on short

notice.

Simple stepsA key nancial step is to arrange or

your expenses to get paid. Tere are

several methods to help, one o which is

to set up automatic dras against your

bank account or regular monthly bills.

But that may not cover every expense.

Te second is to set up a joint checking

account with a trusted amily member

who will pay the bills rom that

account. Remember that this means

they become a joint owner, and they

may one day retain what is le in the

account aer death. I that is a concern,

arrange or the deposits or transers to

the joint account to be limited to the

amount needed to pay the bills only.

Another method is to arrange or a

Durable Power o Attorney (DPOA),

where a trusted person can manage

your nancial aairs. I you are

concerned about the timing o releasing

the DPOA, create the document and

leave it with a trusted third party who

will turn it over to the named person

only under the circumstances you

speciy. Te DPOA provides unlimited

powers or the trusted person to act on

all o your nancial matters.Even with a DPOA, many

institutions require their own

paperwork or that trusted person to

manage the aairs o an investment

account. Contact the broker or account

manager and request their documents

to sign and authorize the trusted

person to manage those accounts.

Available help

In my riend’s case, most o these

documents were in place so the amily

could pay the bills and transer enough

unds to pay or the assisted living

acility. But some institutions required

new paperwork.

Fortunately, my riend remained

competent to help get these nal

documents in place. Had my riend

become incompetent as a result o the

stroke, the amily would have been

required to go to probate court to have

him declared incompetent in order to

establish a guardianship that would

permit his amily to manage his aairs.

Tat process would have been costly,

time-consuming, and disheartening.

Even so, we know that in the darkest

times, the Lord watches over us. (“Even

i I go through the deepest darkness, I

will not be araid, LORD, or you are

with me.” Psalms 23:4 GN)

In conclusion, are you prepared or

your nancial aairs to be handled i

your lie were to change as a result o

an accident or health emergency? I

not, call me at 800-478-8963 or write

me at advancement@themissionsociety.

org or assistance in mobilizing andplanning or lie’s emergencies.U

Lewis von Herrmann , The Mission Society’s

vice president or mission advancement, is

a CFP® rom Certied Financial Planner

Board o Standards, Inc.

Responding to lie’s emergencies will

require wisdom. “But i any o you lack

wisdom,” the scripture teaches, “you

should pray to God, who will give it to

you; because God gives generously and

graciously to all.” (James 1:5, GNT)

By Lewis von Herrmann

Are you prepared to mobilize without warning?



World By Jim Ramsay

32

We all think we’re the center o the universe

Why ethnocentrism is a major hurdle in nishing the task

One does not have to be a child de-

velopment specialist to recognize how

little children tend to think the world

revolves around them. In an individual,

this is called egocentrism, and we hope

the child eventually outgrows it as she

or he begins to interact more with other

people. For some, that maturity seems

to take longer than others!

Te same tendency occurs within

culture and is called ethnocentrism. It is

a tendency to view one’s home cultureas normative and to have a hard time

imagining that people could think or

behave dierently without it being some

sort o aberration.

Ethnocentrism is rampant.

As a college student I lived in Denmark

or several months. Once, a visiting

American asked me, “Tese people re-

ally speak English normally, don’t they?

All this Danish they speak is just or

un, right?” He could not imagine that

someone would actually think in a lan-

guage dierent rom his native English.

In Kazakhstan a young man once asked

me incredulously, “So, your amily

speaks English to each other? Like, you

wake up in the morning and just speak

English? You think in English?” He was

doubtul about my afrmative answers.

Tese are rather extreme examples; mostexamples are a bit more subtle and oen

aect us at a more subconscious level

when we ace the dierences in another

culture.

Due to our nation's large size and

having only two international borders,

we in the United States have oen

tended to exhibit ethnocentrism. But

with the increase in diversity within our

own country, increased international

travel, and globalization, the U.S. popu-

lation in general seems more aware now

o other cultures and the dierences

than perhaps in past years. We are more

apt to see dierences as just dierences

rather than signs o lack o progress,

civilization, or even intelligence.

What is interesting, however, is

that even as many in the United States

recognize and even expect ethnocen-

trism in ourselves, we sometimes makethe mistake o assuming it is only an

American condition. In an ironic twist,

there can be a sort o ethnocentric

assumption that only Americans are

ethnocentric—as i there is “American”

culture and “non-American” culture.

Perhaps that is related to our cultural

tendency to think in dichotomies, but

that’s another subject or another article.

“What is interesting, writes Jim Ramsay,

is that even as many in the United States

recognize and even expect ethnocentrism

in ourselves, we sometimes make the

mistake o assuming it is only an

American condition.”




33

How does all this relate to mission

and, in particular, to our role in an

era in which the Majority World has

increasing involvement in mission? For

several decades now, mission prepara-

tion in the United States ocuses on

teaching about concepts o culture

and on preparing missionaries to live

in a new culture, to distinguish gospel

principles rom “home culture” prin-

ciples, and to seek to present the gospel

without American packaging. How-

ever, i we only view world culture as

“American” and “non-American,” then

we can have the mistaken assumption

that as Ghana, Korea, Mexico, and the

Philippines send missionaries, they are

automatically equipped to deal with

other cultures, since they all are in the

“non-American” category.

Enthnocentrism can make the

gospel seem oreign.

We saw this during our service in

Kazakhstan. Tere were some young

believers rom China who came to study

in a Kazakhstani university. Tey want-

ed to be eective missionally and had

been encouraged with great optimism

by a U.S.-based organization that worksin China. But they had received no

cross-cultural preparation or what they

were to ace, and Chinese culture is very

dierent rom the Russian culture they

encountered at the university. Russians

don’t even use chopsticks! Some o the

Chinese students we got to know were

having major struggles understanding

and dealing with the local culture. At

one event I attended last year in Peru, it

was Brazilians who were complaining

about the lack o rice and beans (a Bra-

zilian staple) in the ood prepared or us

by Peruvians.

Tis holds true within countries—as

Indian Christians, who are concentrated

mostly in the south o that country, pur-

sue a vision to reach across to Indians

in the north, their deault mode will be

to package the gospel in south Indian

culture and church tradition. Tis can

make the gospel seem as oreign to the

local people as i it had been brought by

Americans in pith helmets.

Awareness o enthnocentrism haspositive side eects.

Tere are huge implications or the role

o Western missions. From our own

mission history’s successes and mistakes,

we have learned the importance o

understanding cross-cultural issues and

staying alert to our own ethnocentrism.

We need to recognize that ethnocen-

trism is not an American phenomenon,

but a human phenomenon. We can help

our Majority World brothers and sisters

develop training tailored to their own

culture to help them be more eec-

tive carriers o the gospel to dierent

cultures within their own borders and

beyond. One o the great side eects to

this is that the awareness helps them

critique how the gospel was shared in

their own cultures in years past, which

may have been with a heavy dose o

ethnocentrism rom well-intentioned

missionaries who may not have been

conscious o their own cultural biases.

Tis awareness can provide them an

important perspective into the history

and development o the church within

their culture.

Tat is why the training being done

at Te Mission Society by some o our

missionaries, our missionary prepara-

tion team, and our international mo-

bilization teams has been so important

and is so exciting. It is a joy to see the

“aha” moments as Russians, Kenyans,

Brazilians, Chinese, recognize their own

cultural blinders and understand the

implications those have on how they

share the gospel. We are enabled then

to share and celebrate the gospel thatunites us among the beautiul diversity

o cultures into which God has placed

His people. U

Jim Ramsay is The Mission Society’s vice

president or mission ministries.

themissionsociety.org Winter 2012

“I we only view world culture as

‘American’ and ‘non-American,’ then

we can have the mistaken assumption

that as Ghana, Korea, Mexico, and the

Philippines send missionaries, they are

automatically equipped to deal with

other cultures, since they all are in the

‘non-American’ category.”



Church Ministry By Stan Sel

34

Several weeks ago a group o 15 or so

people visited the early Sunday wor-

ship service at my home church. Tey

were a short-term mission team rom

North Carolina on their way to the At-

lanta airport with a nal destination o

Central America. Our pastor graciously aorded a spokesperson or the group

a little time to address the congregation.

I must coness, I cringed a bit as this

person said they were going down to

build a building or the people. He went

on to say that the team would conduct

a Vacation Bible School or the children

there. As one who requently teaches

a course or short-term mission team

leaders, I will admit to being somewhat

overly sensitive to words and phrases

that sound paternalistic when it comes

to dealing with our brothers and sisters

in other parts o the world. (We dealt

with this issue along with others—such

as unsustainable projects, not creatingdependency—in the summer 2010 issue

o Unfnished . Visit themissionsociety.org

to view that edition.)

Short view

I do not really want to use this incident

to revisit those issues. I also do not

want to ascribe wrong motives to this

spokesperson, given that I did not have

the opportunity to talk with him urther

about the short-term team’s plans. Per-

haps in this new setting he just ailed to

articulate their goals as well as he could.

Rather, I want to use this situation to

suggest that it might behoove short-

term team leaders to add another lterto their decision making when planning

a short-term mission. Te lter I would

add is this: Are there ways our short-

term eorts can mobilize the body o

Christ to be more eective in ministry?

Begin by asking that question o those

we are going to serve—the missionar-

ies or the national church leaders. I we

simply answer that question within our

Short-term missions with a long view

By asking one simple question, your team’s short visit can helpmobilize or ministry the global body o Christ


According to Dr. Robert Priest, proessor o Mission and Anthropology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, each year about 1.5 million

short-term missioners leave the United States to do Christian work abroad at a cost o more than two billion dollars. The long-term

kingdom impact o their eorts could be greatly increased by adding an equipping and empowering element to their ministry.



35

own teams and on our own terms, we

may be headed or trouble.ake a riend o mine, or instance,

who was going on a short-term trip

to work in an orphanage in Asia. His

team decided that one o their primary

ministries while there would be teach-

ing the orphans about prayer. Aer all,

what could orphans in Asia possibly

know about prayer, right? Imagine how

the short-term team members elt when

on their rst morning at the orphan-

age they were awakened at ve o’clock

by the sound o every orphan in the

place engaged in ervent prayer. Tese

children were already great intercessors.

So an appropriate question long beore

the mission team departed the United

States would have been: What are some

ways you could use us that would be

benecial to your ministry?

Long view

I was recently talking with a church

about an upcoming short-term trip in

which they were going to conduct a Va-

cation Bible School, much like the one

that was mentioned in my church. Tey

described or me the team that would

be going, the theme o the VBS, the

kids’ activities, and the materials and

teaching aids they would use. Ten they

asked me what I thought.

I told them I thought it was a greatplan i they would add one more ele-

ment. I suggested they get in touch with

their local national church contacts and

ask i it would be permissible or their

children’s workers to work alongside

the team so they could learn this pro-

gram. Furthermore, I suggested when

the team members were through, they

should leave all the materials and teach-

ing aids, including the puppets, with

the local teachers so they could practiceand then do additional Vacation Bible

Schools in other parts o the city and

even in the surrounding villages. Aer a

big gulp about leaving the puppets (the

only real teaching aids that were not

readily available or could be construct-

ed there), the team agreed and liked the

idea o not just doing, but also mobiliz-

ing others or ministry.

Tere are even ways to turn the ubiq-

uitous construction short-term mission

into one that has mobilizing elements.

Te rst thing I would suggest is to

talk to the national contact about hir-

ing local workers or the project using

short-term project unds paid at local

oreign rates. By that, I don’t mean hire

the locals as the “grunts,” but rather nd

true crasmen to hire. Te short-term

team can do the grunt work. As they

assist the nationals, they should treat

them with dignity, establish relation-

ships, include them in devotions at the

start o the day, share lunchtime with

them, and i possible, nd some way to

even include their amilies.

Te key here is to use the occasion to

open doors or the local ministry team

to build bridges to the lives o others,

bridges that will remain aer the short-

term team has gone. Te circle can be

expanded and the outreach broadenedi ways are ound to include those on

the periphery, such as building material

suppliers and any others who support

the project even in the barest o ways.

Te same partnership approach with lo-

cal ministry can happen in many other

ways including teaching business skills

or ethics, agriculture principles, home

health, and a host o others. In sum-

mary, identiy a need that can be met

through collaboration with nationals ormissionaries; nd ways to ll the need,

and pass it along to locals who can

either continue the work or ollow up

on your work.

Review and learn

Tis mobilization process can work in

reverse as well. I the short-term team

members are observant, they can oen

learn techniques rom the nationals that

can be applied to reach their own or

other cultures back home. In the early

1980s I was on a short-term evangelism

team in Bogotá, Colombia working

with a group o young men studying to

be church planters. In the morning we

would study together under the leader-

ship o the local pastor. In the aernoon

we would divide up with two Colom-

bians and one “gringo” going together

to visit homes and businesses in an

assigned sector. When we returned

to the States, we turned the model we

learned in Colombia into a means by

which we, as church members, entered

into surrounding subdivisions in a way

that greatly increased the homeowners’

receptivity to us. Tere is much we can

learn rom our national brothers and

sisters i we pay attention.

By simply thinking o how to add

“ongoing ministry value” beyond the im-mediate goal, short-term missions can

be used as an eective mobilizing tool.

And by being observant in the culture in

which we engage in short-term mission,

we can nd approaches that will mobi-

lize us or greater ministry at home. U

Stan Self is The Mission Society’s senior

director o church ministry.

themissionsociety.org Winter 2012



Calling By Richard Coleman

36

Sweet beans?

What our tastes in ood have to do with nishing the task

It was an experience I’ll never orget.

Te date: July 4, 2010. Te place: eres-

opolis, Brazil. Newly approved Mission

Society missionaries had joined Brazil-

ian Christians and a handul o people

rom other countries or Te Mission

Society’s annual orientation training.

Since July 4th ell on one o the training

days, our Brazilian riends wanted to

honor us and allow us to celebrate our

special holiday with them. Te cooks

and organizers worked together to

prepare ood that would be served like atypical cookout in the United States.

So good

Te menu included hamburgers, chips,

and baked beans. Te people rom the

States seemed a bit happy—as i the

ood gave them the nostalgic eeling

o other July 4th celebrations they had

known. Te Brazilians seemed to be

excited to experience just a taste—pun

intended—o U.S. culture. Tere was

only one issue. Te Brazilians learned

that the baked beans were sweet. Sweet

beans? Surely it was just a gastronomic

gae, right?

Some o them urrowed their

eyebrows; their minds were grasping

or the logic behind such a culinary

anomaly. Teir reaction was similar to

reactions I’ve seen (and even made my-

sel) when I was in Peru and someone

asked those o us rom the States i we

would like to try anticucho (marinated,

grilled cow’s heart) or cuy (guinea pig).

Let’s just say that our nonverbals gave

away our true inner thoughts: “Yuck!

Why would anyone eat that?”

Not so good

Back to my story. Being that I like

to encourage people to take steps to

challenge themselves culturally, I was

thrilled to see a Brazilian woman poised

to taste the baked beans. Her acial

expression was somewhere between dis-

gust and ear. I egged her on. “You can

do it. Tey taste good.” Tis dear sister

in the Lord quickly shoved the beans

into her mouth and immediately gulpeda ew swallows rom a can o Coke to

cleanse her bewildered taste buds. She

had survived. Tere would be no encore

bite, however.

I laughed so hard. How could anyone

respond so dramatically to something

that wasn’t even nasty , I wondered?

I mean, what’s so gross about sweet

beans?

Unamiliar

I tell this story to illustrate urther what

you have already read in Jim Ramsay’s

article. (See page 32.) Every culture has

its preerences—preerences in dress,

preerences in music, and yes, preer-

ences in ood. And it’s no easy thing or

people o any country, not just those

o us rom the States, to leave what is

amiliar in order to go to a culture that

is dierent. Communicating the gospel

cross-culturally means ully entering

into a world that is unamiliar, just as

Jesus did, and learning to love people

whose history, customs, and preerences

are likely strange to us. Tis is precisely

why Te Mission Society’s training is

such a crucial component o cross-cul-

tural preparation.

While in Peru and Kenya as a part o

the training team, I heard the testimo-

nies o several in-country missionaries

who verbalized their hope—mingled

with regret—that they now knew what

they must do to adjust their ministry

approach. “I wish I had known this

beore,” was a comment I heard oen.

Missionary preparation can very well

make the dierence between a cross-

cultural worker who thrives and onewho does not—well, that along with a

resolve to adhere to the missionary ad-

age, “Where God leads me I will ollow;

what He eeds me, I will swallow.” U

Richard Coleman is The Mission Society’s

senior director o mobilization and

candidacy.


Training is critical, even or those who

serve as interns or only a ew months.



Go explore. »»»

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Are you considering a lie o cross-cultural ministry? Trying to piece together your education

and experience with what God is already doing worldwide? Do you have a passion or people

and cultures? But at the same time, are you maybe not so sure where to begin?

A GreenLight Internship o 2-18 months gives you the go-ahead to explore.

Explore what it looks like to live, work, and do ministry with

people in another culture. Learn rom missionaries with

valuable experience and perspective. Make riends and

engage in conversations that allow you a glimpse o the

gospel through their eyes. Immerse yoursel in the story that

God is telling throughout the world—a story that is bigger

than your own.

We are now accepting inquiries or the GreenLight Internship.

I you’re ready to explore, contact Kate Hilderbrandt at

[email protected].

“I had no idea how much higher and dierent

and better God’s plans were or my lie. He was

working in a oreign place I knew nothing about

He invited me and continues to invite me to be

a part o it.”–Jennie Clements, Monterrey, Mexic



Live area

n

The Mission Society exists to mobilize and deploy

the body o Christ globally to join Jesus in His mission,

especially among the least reached peoples.

Read stories o transormation rom

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a video segment with President Dick McClain.

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Documents

Unfinished #54 - A Publication of the Mission Society